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HMAS Hobart Commissioning

Posted: 26 Sep 2017 21:54
by MikeJames
HMAS Hobart Commissioning

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HMAS Hobart, the first of three Air Warfare Destroyers built in South Australia by ASC, was commissioned on Saturday. She is fitted with a US-supplied Aegis air-defense system allowing it to protect several ships. (RAN photo)

The safety and security of Australia and our interests around the globe has been significantly strengthened with the commissioning of the first Australian-built Air Warfare Destroyer, HMAS Hobart, today.

Hobart brings together the best of Australian and global technology to be one of the world’s most potent and lethal warships. She will provide air defence for accompanying ships, in addition to land forces and infrastructure in coastal areas, and for self-protection against missiles and aircraft.

The commissioning of Hobart is the culmination of the hard work of thousands of Australians who built and delivered the future capability of the Royal Australian Navy. The crew and shipbuilders who have brought this new capability into service are to be congratulated on their achievement.

The Turnbull Government has committed to a continuous sovereign naval shipbuilding program that will keep our Navy equipped with the latest technology for generations to come and Hobart demonstrates our commitment and ability to meet that promise.

This sovereign continuous naval shipbuilding program will create thousands of jobs across the country and is another example of the Turnbull Government building and strengthening our defence capability and defence industry.

HMAS Hobart is the first of three Hobart class guided missile destroyers that will enter service in coming years and the third ship to carry the name, Hobart. Her motto, Grow with Strength, reflects the future direction of the Navy as it continues its primary mission of protecting Australia and its interests in an increasingly dynamic region.

As detailed in the Turnbull Government’s 2016 Defence White Paper, our Navy is undergoing its largest regeneration since the Second World War and our future fleet will be more flexible, more versatile, and more lethal than ever.

Hobart will now undergo her test and evaluation period where she will integrate into the fleet and Navy personnel will train to operate the warship.

Story history:

-- Sept. 25: corrected factual mistake in the photo caption. H/T to reader D.E. for catching it, and apologies to all our readers for making the mistake in the first place.

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Welcome to the Fleet - HMAS Hobart III

(Source: Royal Australian Navy; issued Sept 23, 2017)

With a zealous crowd and great fanfare, the guided missile destroyer HMAS Hobart was commissioned in to the Royal Australian Navy fleet in a formal ceremony at Garden Island in Sydney today.

The Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull, joined with other dignitaries, ship’s company and family and friends to welcome the newest ship to the Australian Fleet.

Mr Turnbull said Australia plays a leading role in ensuring the world remains at peace.

"In these uncertain times, a strong, well equipped Australian Defence Force is absolutely critical," he said.

"The commissioning of HMAS Hobart provides clear evidence of our determination to keep Australians safe and ensure we are ready and able to meet the challenges that come our way in the years ahead.

"Wherever she may travel around the world, Hobart will serve our nation and take action in Australia's name."

The third Australian Navy ship to carry the name Hobart will provide air defence for accompanying ships in addition to land forces and infrastructure in coastal areas, and for self-protection against missiles and aircraft.

Hobart’s state-of-the-art Aegis combat system, including the phased array radar and missile systems, will provide an advanced air defence system capable of engaging enemy aircraft and missiles at ranges in excess of 150 kilometres.

She will also be capable of undersea warfare and be equipped with modern sonar systems, decoys, surface-launched torpedoes and an array of effective close-in defensive weapons

Commanding Officer, Hobart, Captain John Stavridis said the ship will be the most complex and capable warship ever operated by Australia.

“She is as powerful as she is potent and is every bit a destroyer,” he said.

“Her sensors and weapons are leading edge and she is capable of conducting the full span of maritime security operations.

“However, without the 185 men and women who serve in her, she is just another ship alongside. To be a warship requires a specialist team who are masters in their individual skills and are capable of working collectively to achieve the mission.

“I am blessed with such a crew, who are both proficient and professional.”

The ceremony included the breaking of the commissioning pennant and hoisting of the Australian White Ensign for the first time, at which point, Hobart became the responsibility of Captain Stavridis.

Witnessing the historic occasion were sailors from the former Hobarts which served with distinction in the Second World and Vietnam Wars.

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Re: HMAS Hobart Commissioning

Posted: 29 Oct 2017 19:07
by MikeJames
Fine-tuning starts for navy’s first air warfare destroyer
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Crew of the air warfare destroyer HMAS Hobart hold their caps high for the ship’s commissioning at the Garden Island base in September this year. Its first-of-class tests are expected to culminate late next year in trials with the US Navy off California

JULIAN KERRThe Australian12:00AM October 28, 2017

The formal commissioning at Sydney’s Garden Island on September 23 of HMAS Hobart saw the Royal Australian Navy welcome into service one of the world’s most capable multi-mission warships.

In essence, the 7000-tonne air warfare destroyer — now officially designated as a DDG (guided missile destroyer) — provides in the hull of a large frigate the weapons capability of a destroyer together with communications and command and control resources broadly similar to those of a much larger US Navy Ticonderoga-class cruiser.

Importantly, the DDGs come equipped with the US co-operative engagement capability (CEC) that provides an over-the-horizon capability across platforms. The CEC enables each ship to act as part of a wider grid of sensor and weapon platforms that allows similarly-equipped ships to share surveillance and targeting information.

Following significant improvements in what has been a contentious construction process, Ship 2, the Brisbane, is 95 per cent complete at ASC in Adelaide and is tracking to meet a rescheduled delivery date of June 2018. Delivery of Ship 3, the Sydney, now 65 per cent complete, has been advanced by three months to December 2019.

The RAN will then boast three ships whose capabilities, orchestrated by their Aegis combat systems, stretch well beyond those of their primary long-range anti-air role, albeit at a price. The final cost is estimated in 2016-17 budget papers as $9.09 billion — about $1.25bn in out-turned dollars over the original budget.

Fine-tuning those air-defence, land-attack, surface-attack and anti-submarine capabilities to reach initial operational capability by December 2018 is the responsibility of Captain John Stavridis.

In addition to three masters degrees and extensive command experience, Stavridis is also a qualified chartered accountant whose respect for ordered, detailed process should, he acknowledges, stand him in good stead during Hobart’s work-up program.

This is expected to culminate late next year with US Navy combat system sea certification (CSSC) trials. The trials will include firings over the southern California test range off San Diego of the ship’s SM-2 Block IIIB medium-range and Evolved Seasparrow (ESSM) short-range anti-air missiles. While the SM-2 Block IIIB is lethal against aircraft and sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles, it is not designed for use against ballistic missiles.

Given the threat posed by North Korea’s strategic missile program, it would be surprising therefore if consideration is not being given in Canberra to an early upgrade of the command and control element of the DDGs’ Aegis combat systems and the acquisition of SM-6 missiles to provide a sea-based terminal-phase ballistic missile defence (BMD) capability.

The intention to equip the DDGs with the SM-6 to enhance their capability “against emerging air threats” was explicitly confirmed in both the Defence Department’s 2009 and 2012 defence capability plans.

The 2016 policy white paper stated simply that the DDGs would be equipped with “new advanced surface to air missiles” — presumably the SM-6 Dual 1 with a range of about 370 kilometres and combined BMD, anti-air and anti-surface target capabilities — by the middle of the next decade.

Deploying SM-6 for terminal-phase BMD (that is, when the missile is approaching its target) would require upgrading the DDGs’ Baseline 8.0 Aegis systems to the latest Baseline 9.C1 configuration with an optional BMD module, thus combining BMD and air defence in a single integrated package. The Baseline 8.0 systems were ordered from the US in 2006, produced in 2009, and subsequently languished in warehouses for years before installation.

A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute suggests upgrading Aegis to Baseline 9.C1 could cost about $US125 million ($160m) per ship, together with the opportunity cost of taking each vessel out of service — or possibly delaying the delivery of Ship 3 — for an unknown period.

To that must be added the cost of BMD-capable missiles — about $US4m per copy for the SM-6 and $US12m each for the US Navy’s SM-3 exo-atmosphere ballistic missile interceptor, which can also be deployed with Aegis Baseline 9.C1.

Defence’s Integrated Investment Plan (IIP) includes a $4bn-$5bn provision for enhancements to the DDG combat system between 2017 and 2028, but gives no details of what these large sums will involve. The IIP also anticipates additional expenditure between 2018 and 2028 of $2bn-$3bn on area air-defence weapons.

Preliminary approval for the first upgrade to Aegis is slated for 2017-18 under Project Sea 4000 Phase 6, and this work is likely to be undertaken during Hobart’s first scheduled docking period in early 2019.

At present it is understood the docking will include some relatively minor software enhancements to Aegis, improving the protective armour on the magazine storing Hellfire air-to-surface missiles for the ship’s embarked MH-60R combat helicopter, and installing equipment to allow the ship to make use of the Hawklink high-speed digital data link already fitted on the MH-60R.

Barring the emergence in the meantime of a credible solution to the threats emanating from Pyongyang, that maintenance period could also provide the opportunity to initiate the BMD upgrade.

Re: HMAS Hobart Commissioning

Posted: 30 Oct 2017 08:28
by littoralcombat
The statement "provides in the hull of a large Frigate the weapons capability of a Destroyer"? Sounds impressive doesn't it.......... :yn:

Nige

Re: HMAS Hobart Commissioning

Posted: 31 Oct 2017 00:15
by rritchie71
littoralcombat wrote:The statement "provides in the hull of a large Frigate the weapons capability of a Destroyer"? Sounds impressive doesn't it.......... :yn:


It's a very blurred line now adays.... their are many ships that are called frigates for political reasons, but are comparable or more powerful than many destroyers. The Dutch Zeven provincien class is a good example.

Robert

Re: HMAS Hobart Commissioning

Posted: 31 Oct 2017 22:51
by MikeJames
In our case we have a frigate called a destroyer for political reasons.

THe F100 class of which the AWD are a copy, are called frigates by Navantia, who designed them, frigates by the Feroll shipyard, who built them, and frigates by the Spanish Navy,, who ordered and operate them.

Mike